In our Cheese of the Month section, you’ll get the 411 on tangy, slightly salty Ile de France Goat cheese. This fresh chèvre is very versatile – spreadable at room temperature, crumbly when chilled – and it’s great when paired with figs or spread on sweet and spicy gingerbread, or crumbled on salads. It’s not only consumers but chef’s favorite as well: in 2008 Ile de France Goat cheese received the Chef’s best award!

Café et Fromage is the month’s pairing, which, when consumed together, bring out the unique qualities of the other. Take Fol Epi, for instance. Sweet and nutty, this cheese goes best with a bitter café. On the other hand, the chocolaty tones of a dark roast complement the creamy, mild flavor St. André. There are tons of tasty cheese, cheese recipes and coffee combinations, and we’ve compiled several of the best to help start your day off right.

Unsure how to store your Ile de France cheese? In the How-To section, we provide helpful tips and hints on properly wrapping and storing cheese. Especially as the temperatures rise in the coming months we want you to know how to keep your IDF cheese fresher, longer.

Don’t forget about the IDF Community either, where our recipe contest recently ended. A great success again this year, we received more then 40 entries one more beautiful and appetizing then the other. And you can now get in on the action by voting for your favorites. After you cast your vote, test a few of the recipes. It’s what we call delicious democracy!

There’s lots more to love about the new iledefrancecheese.com, where you’ll find a number of new features. You can now comment and share all our articles, save your favorite recipe, enter your own tips, and create a profile that shows other users your favorite cheese and more!